


The Specific Heat Capacity of Love

by FanFicReader01



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Comfort/Angst, Love, M/M, Sad, School, Sea, Tragic Story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-30
Updated: 2018-07-02
Packaged: 2019-05-31 01:22:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15108836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FanFicReader01/pseuds/FanFicReader01
Summary: North goes on a school trip to the sea. There she meets a peculiar blond man, looking out over the sea.He tells her a tragic love story. She listens and maybe she can help.|| D:BH version of an amazing piece of manga that bears the same title. Original work is written/drawn by Moss & Old Sir





	1. The man at the shore

**Author's Note:**

> We follow the story of North as she meets a peculiar stranger at the beach.  
> The fragments in italics are directly taken from the manga :P   
> If you know the manga, it's basically the same but with some minor changes so it suits dbh a bit more ^^ Hope you'll enjoy!7
> 
> ||Once again smth unrelated but --> https://www.change.org/p/european-parliament-stop-the-censorship-machinery-save-the-internet Please sign the petition!  
> Becos if this law gets thru, I'll prbably won't be able to read you guys amazing fanfics, nor can I post any work myself anymore and I'd hate to see that happen ><

_Say have you had that feeling before? The long winding road can never stop one’s need to nap. Leaning next to the car window, gazing across the blue sky and cotton candy like clouds._

_The scenery which passes by easily like breathing, the feeling as though trees and birds are asking ‘How are you?’ These feelings. I don’t have them._

 

The unforgiving sun beats down on the yellow school bus that makes its way to the beach. The chattering of cheerful students and the roaring sound of the bus’s engine is the constant noise that fills the hot air. North’s eyes are closed as she leans against the window. She tries to block the noise and nap a little. The whole morning she’d been active in chatting and playing some stupid games with her fellow students but now she feels exhausted. Her shirt stickily clings to her skin, making her even more sweaty. The voice of her teacher is heard through the speakers.

 “Students, we’ve finally arrived at our destination!”

Once the bus has come to a stop, students excitedly jump up and start taking out their bags and belongings. Josh pokes North awake. “Hey, sleepyhead, wake up! we’ve arrived!”

 “I’m coming, coming,” the girl mutters, wiping out some sleep crumbs out of her eyes before getting up. Although North wasn’t completely interested in going to the beach, especially _not_ with her _school_ , she’s still baffled by the sight once she stepped outside the hot container that was the bus.

 The beach is beautiful and serene. The salt of the waves immediately fills her nose, the different shades of blue blind her together with the glowing orb in the sky. A few seagulls are heard screaming as they make the sky their own. When they near the sea, a soothing breeze makes North cool down.

“It’s actually mesmerizing here,” North gasps in awe.

“I know right?” miss Chloe smiles as she stands next to her student.

 

_Ocean:_

_Earth’s water reservoir_

_Average depth 3800 m’2_

_Contains 96,53% of the world’s water_

_Formed 4500 million years ago_

_600 million years ago giving life to the first single cell organism_

_That’s what the teacher told us._

 

North knows those are big, really big numbers. It’s kind of intimidating, knowing how old the sea is and how much of sea there truly is. While she looks out over the sea, watching as the waves pull and push, the voice of another girl is heard.

 “Come on, North! Get in your swimming outfit, almost everyone’s in the water already!” Kara exclaims.

 “Yeah, I-, I’m on my way,” North mutters absently. She gets startled once more when her friend takes her wrist and drags her towards the water.

 “If you’re staying gawking at the sea like you’ve never seen water before, I’ll help you change!” Kara laughs. North pulls away and snorts: “Alright, alright! Let me go change somewhere the boys won’t see me.” She then quickly runs away and hides behind a large rock.

Although she’s not too shy about her body -she’s kind of okay with it- she doesn’t want the obnoxious guys of her class look at her in _that_ way as she undresses to get swim ready. Just as she’s trying to get rid of her shirt, she notices something peculiar in the corner of her eye.

 

_You know, that day it’s as though I was destined to meet that strange guy. His torso was naked, and he waited forlornly for something unknown._

 

There’s a young male sitting at the shore at the abandoned part of the beach. He has short, blond hair and pale skin. He stares out at sea, his mouth drawn in a wry stripe. For a moment North wonders if he isn’t a statue. The man sits so perfectly still it’s almost _creepy_. So she decides to go away and join the others. Quickly she tramples through the sand, already leaving the rock and the strange man be.

 

_Specific heat of sand: 0.92*10_ _^3_ _J/ (kg * °C)_

_Specific heat of water: 4.2*10^3 J/(kg * °C)_

_Because the specific heat capacity is different, the air presses down from top the low pressure moves. This is how the sea wind is enough to form fetters around us._

 

Before North knows it, her cap gets pulled out by the sea breeze. Faith has it the cap dances through the sky and gets caught by the peculiar man. Upon close, North sees the man must be around the same age as her, maybe a year older or so. The blond man has big, emotional blue eyes that seem to pierce into her soul. He remains silent and North jerks away when the man reaches out to her, only to feel her cap put back on her head. When she looks back up, the man smiles and then turns around. He walks back to his place and thuds down. Not sure what to do, North decides to follow her ‘saviour’ and sits down next to him.

 “Ehm, thanks. For saving my hat,” she mutters awkwardly. Her gratitude gets greeted by silence. North isn’t that good with showing empathy towards others but with this stranger? She can’t help but wanting to know more so she asks: “Are you happy? Lonely? I mean… You’re just staring at the sea. What’s the purpose?”

 Again, no response. She’s about to add a snappy comment but decides not to in the end. She sighs.

“Maybe one day I’ll be like you. Feel this ‘thing’ like you apparently feel. Because now? Now I don’t really know what to feel when I look at the sea. Guess I’m a bit of a heartless bitch then but maybe I could change that,” North chuckles but her face looks a bit grim. Now the blond looks up. Hints of yellow and red hue adorn his eyes, giving him almost a mystical look.

 “So… you’re thinking of someone?”

For the first time, the man smiles lightly. “Yeah, I’m thinking of my friend in the sea.”

Then it gets real quiet, even the wind lays down for a second. The blond man closes his eyes, deeply inhales and then North’s sure she’s holding her breath as well. She decides to do the same as the pale man and closes her eyes with him. There’s a story to be told. She can hear it in the seagulls screams, the roaring waves, the whistling winds and the suddenly loud heartbeat of the enigmatic man.


	2. The story of Seagull and Fish

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I hope this story still makes sense after you read this chapter xD
> 
> I'm sorry I'm getting slower with uploading chapters/fics. Some personal problems and a bit of family drama and school worries keep getting in the way :P

There was an interesting collision of two worlds at the very edge where earth and sky kiss each other.

A dashing flash of white dared entering the unknown realms of the deep, deep blue.

~

A seagull had dived into the cool water.

~

The young blond man got startled when all of a sudden the waves around him became wilder, whiter. Then his blue eyes met someone else’s eyes: earthly green and heavenly blue. A dark skinned man studied him, scrutinizing every inch. He swam around the pale man with great cautious. It made the blond man curious too so when the other man wanted to swim away, he stopped him.

 “Let’s be friends.”

It caught the attention of the man with two coloured eyes. Again their eyes met.

 “I-, you can call me Simon,” the blond said.

“Markus,” the stranger nodded with a dry smile before he swam away.

 

***

 

North blinks a few times before she realizes where she is again. The blond man who called himself Simon has stopped talking. His gaze is lowered on the sand and a worried hand rubs through his hair.

 “Is something the matter? A-Are you alright?” North asks, genuinely concerned. In response Simon chuckles and shakes his head: “I’m fine.” The man’s eyes snap back to the ocean, he looks a bit more determined than before. For a second North’s sure the dream in his eyes is gone.

 “Do you have many friends?” Simon suddenly asks.

Josh, Kara, even Connor who can get odd at times. But then again, she’s often dubbed as ‘special’ too on many occasions by her peers.

 “I guess I have some close friends,” North mutters eventually. She looks quickly behind the rocks and sees that most students have already braved the cool water. She looks back to Simon who’s stood up, his eyes still fixed on the water.

 “If you miss Markus that much, why don’t you go look for him?” North asks. For a second the wind and sea is absolutely still, as if to accentuate and mourn the words Simon speaks next.

 “He already died.”

The words weigh heavy on North’s youthful heart and on Simon’s defeated shoulders.

The uprising of the waves, the roaring sound of its foam that drifts ashore announces the rest of Simon’s tragic story.

 

***

 

_I didn’t know what to say. Death, such a heavy and foreign concept._

_He was a lonely fish. Perhaps existence meant loneliness to him._

_Everything around him was beautiful, and he could swim with such speed that he had no enemies and no one wanted to be with him._

Markus looked at the school of fish. They were happy, frolicking around and chatting with each other. They had bright colours of hair, unlike Markus’ own dark brownish hair and skin. When he saw them play, Markus felt empty and lonely. But then again, it was all he’d ever known.

He slowly swam away and ended up on a rock at the bottom of the sea. All by himself and his lonesome dreams. Why did he have to be so different? Was it because the sharp teeth, the unintended fearsome glare, the different eye colours, his intimidating frame?

 Markus frowned and sighed.

 

_In my next life if I could choose, let me be a raindrop that feels no sadness._

 

“Hey.” A voice that sounded familiar broke through the barrier, through the booming sound of loneliness and Markus looked up.

 “Up here.”

When Markus looked at the surface of the water, he saw Simon. The blond had dipped his head into the water to see Markus. He was smiling and it made Markus smile for the first time.

 “I want to show you something,” Simon said and Markus followed without questioning it. He swam to the surface to meet Simon’s world.

 

~

Fish wondered if seagull’s sky was always blue or if it was just his own sea that remained as blue as it was.

~

 

There was a certain curiosity growing inside Markus when he neared the world of the humans. He barely got out of the water during normal days but it certainly was a fresh breath of air when he got out of the water this time. Everything felt _new_. Simon was sitting on a floating log, giving him an amused look. The sky was painted with a warm glow of orange. _Melted_ orange with blue intertwining, _no consuming_ the colours of the sun. The ocean seemed to grasp onto the warmer colours, dragging it into the coolness of the sea.

 “Look, Markus. This landscape, this vision. Consider it a gift from me,” Simon said with a soft voice. And Markus looked. He gazed, gawked, was _amazed_ by the view that lay in front of him. He could see the island where humans lived. It was getting darker but the city lights kept shining oh so bright. Like little fires that’d never extinguish. Somewhere in the far harbour anchored ships bobbed up and down on the now calm waves. It overwhelmed Markus with a serenity he hadn’t felt in years. He wondered if he and Simon could be friends just a bit longer.

\--

 

If Markus wasn’t meeting Simon at the edge of their worlds, the largest mirror in the world, he’d be down in more familiar waters. He’d be pondering but now that he met Simon, Markus also thought a lot about his friend in the _other_ blue sky.

 

_The world is half sky, half ocean. They brought you here and gave you a gift called ‘wings’. They’re inserted on your back. No one thinks about their importance because they are constantly behind you._

 

Markus wondered what it would feel like, to fly and roam the seemingly limitless sky. He wondered how’d it be, to be able to fly where you want, whenever you want.

Maybe Simon wasn’t as different as Markus, though. After all, Markus could swim wherever and whenever he wanted with no fear of encountering possible enemies. Markus might not have wings to fly him everywhere, he found pride in his strong fins, the one on his back being his most beloved jewel.

 

\--

 

The sky was a clear blue, a few soft clouds drifting by. And there was the clouds of birds. Simon was among them. He flew higher than any other of his winged friends. He almost felt invincible. But that was the moment where Icarus flew too close to the sun.

A strange shadow casted over Simon and his friends. And then Simon saw it too late. The nets, thick fisher nets that spread out like a huge cobweb but more dangerous. Before Simon could do something about it he got caught. They tied him up, arms behind his back. Then they threw him into the sea, hanging from a rope that might’ve well been a noose around his neck.

 

~

In the depth of seagull’s eyes, he could only look desperately on at what was another’s sky.

Aware of the desperation, even if he knew full well the circumstances, he was still helpless.

Because he could feel each breath becoming more laborious.

~

 

Simon fought against the ropes that cut his wrists. Even though he knew it’d cost him even more breath he could not have, he tried. Oh, he tried so hard. He peered at the surface and cursed the fishermen.

 “Bastards! What do you guys want?” Why did they have to tie him up like this? What purpose did this serve, except that of human wicked ‘humour’?"

Large bubbles of worthless breath escaped Simon’s mouth and he felt himself weaken with the second. He needed air. He’d suffocate. He’d die. He started to lose consciousness. While he was drifting between being awake and falling apart, Markus appeared. Desperate too.

 “I’ll save you, my _friend_.” He swam close to Simon and tried to free him from the painful rope. More blood drifted out of the cuts and if Markus would’ve been an enemy, he might’ve succumbed to the delicious smell of the red liquid oozing into the water.

 

“Seagulls are the best type of bait,” head fisher Kamski grinned amused as he stared at the water. “The sharks come as soon as they smell blood.”

 “You sure this’ll work, uncle?” a younger male asked, questioning and unsure.

“Of course, Gavin. You just wait and see,” Kamski had barely spoken the last few words before his nephew already exclaimed: “Rope! It moved! There’s a shark, we’ve caught one! Elijah, look!”

 “Quick, go get the fishing spear!” Kamski already sounded victorious.

 

Markus finally caught the rope, separating Simon from the fishers. Hopefully he was not too late. Hopefully Simon would regain consciousness after he’d bring him up to the surface. Hopefully new air would fill his friend’s lungs and-

 A bang went through Markus’ body, leaving him in complete shock. With wide eyes he stared at his chest which was blooming with deep red.

 

***

 

“So… As soon as Markus bit through my ropes, that was the moment he got speared and caught.” North’s face goes pale like Simon’s. She barely hears herself gasp at the shocking and tragic story.

 “That’s how he was speared and hulled onto land,” Simon’s voice is full of regret and guilt. The blond man stands up and walks closer towards the sea.

 

***

 

~

Before fish had the time to be terrified, people held him down.

They took away his only wing, his sole pride.

~

 

Markus was petrified. First there had been the foreign aching in his chest, trying to drive away the pain. Then, once his skin came in contact with the human world, the agony was just _everywhere_. He didn’t know where he was, didn’t know where the pain was even coming from now.

 There was only suffering.

And Markus wished he could cry or fight it. Fight the pain, fight the humans who had wronged him. Clearly unable to, Markus remained silent. He let it happen and with a hole in both his chest and soul, it downed on him that this was the last memory of life he’d have before dying. Just as life slipped away from him, Markus remembered one name.

 

After Simon got back to his senses, it was already too late. Eyes, so wide they could barely remain in its sockets, stared at the sight in front of him. He witnessed Markus, scarred and lifeless, been thrown into the colds again. His body sunk deeper and deeper, slowly disappearing from Simon’s vision.

 

_I’d rather believe that the ocean isn’t deep._

_Never flowing._

_Slowly those bubbles released their grasp and struggled up to the surface. Finally disappearing, leaving just him, a heart slowly sinking_


	3. One last wish

“You asked me why I can’t go look for him if I miss him?” Simon whispers.

North gulps. “I-, I’m so sorry I just…” Words don’t come easy. Not in this situation but Simon smiles.

 “It’s alright. Please, don’t mind. Really.” Simon stretches a bit and looks up to the sky. North wonders what he sees that she doesn’t. Even after everything he’s told her, this still feels like a strange dream and North wonders if she’s still dreaming or actually hallucinating because of the summer heat. Simon  interrupts her pondering.

 “These are just the reasons why I’m waiting here.”

“I-, I’m sad to hear these things, Simon,” North mutters.

 “That’s all of the story,” he says.

“I-, I’m sorry, don’t get me wrong but I just can’t figure out which part is real and which part’s a story. Anyway, I’m sorry for what life was taken,” North outs her honest emotions.

 “Whether you believe it or not, whether you know what’s real or what’s not, that part doesn’t really matter anymore. After all in this ocean every day life appears and similarly dies.”

Simon throws a melancholic look and starts moving. His feet dig around the wet sand as he struts around in circles. He stops for a second.

 “But till now, I’m still unable to comprehend his loneliness and fear as he sank to the depth of the ocean.”

 Simon walks closer to the water until his ankles are completely in the sea. He focuses back on North and gives her a determined look.

 “May I use this story in exchange for a favour? Just one. This is also my last wish.”

“Sure, w-what can I help you with?” North immediately asks.

 “Will you take me back to that ocean? Markus’s waiting for me,” Simon says.

North flutters her eyelashes for a second, suddenly confused. “I’m sorry… I don’t think I completely understand,” she stammers as if she just woke up from a strange dream.

 

“North? What’s taking you so long? Is it _that_ difficult to change?!” Connor’s voice makes North look up in shock. She inhales sharply and then quickly exhales. She didn’t even notice she had been holding her breath all this time.

 Kara, Connor and Josh pop up from behind the rocks. Josh is carrying a large pink swim ring and Connor’s wearing swimming goggles, looking really idiotic, making North forget the situation she was in for a brief moment.

 “Why are you sitting here talking to a dead seagull washed up by the tide?” Kara frowns.

“What’s wrong with you?” Josh says but not with mall intent, he looks more puzzled. Connor, of course, smirks and wonders: “Is this some weird hobby of yours?” If North wasn’t still in shock, almost sleepy headed, she’d given her friend the finger. Instead she turns around and sees, indeed, a dead seagull laying in the hot sand. Its eyes are closed and it almost look sad.

 The sight feels like a slap in North’s face and she just stands there, feeling pity and grief. Connor’s smirk falls away and turns into a frown like Josh’s. Meanwhile North approaches the bird and sinks to her knees. With gentle hands she picks up the small animal as if it were still alive. For the first time North thinks she can really _feel_ something. Sadness, grief, loneliness. Maybe they’re Simon’s emotions. Perhaps they’re Markus’ emotions.

 

\--

 

As the sun is lowering, a small white boat floats on the little waves of the ocean. North has convinced her friends to tag along but they still look puzzled.

 “Is it really okay that we’re going behind the teacher’s back for this crazy story?” Connor snorts.

“You’ve been whining the whole day, enough already!” Josh sighs agitated. Kara gives North a concerned look. “North, I just want to ask one thing. Even if this whole story is real, the ocean’s so vast. How do you know it’s here?”

 North, who has been silent during the whole rowing trip to this specific part of the sea, finally opens her eyes. She mutters something inaudible and stands up. She leans over the railing and carefully lets the seagull sink into the water. Slowly, gentle. With love.

 

_When my hands touched the cold sea water, I felt fish’s loneliness._

_Everything around him was beautiful._

_He had natural speed._

_He had a friend called seagull._

 

~

Fish returned to his sky, yet seagull chose the sea.

I am still unable to understand the terror and bravery of sinking into the silent ocean.

~

 

Simon slowly sinks deeper into that cold, cold aquarelle. Despite his heart not beating anymore, Simon feels at peace. His lungs no longer have to fight for breath, his head is no longer spinning. He’s no longer afraid. And then he feels him. He feels Markus’ presence. He’s here. He just has to hold on a little bit longer. Just wait a bit longer.

 The deeper he sinks, the closer Markus gets.

When Simon dares to open his eyes, he _sees_ his friend. Markus. His wonderful eyes are looking back at him. But Markus looks a bit dreamy, a bit absent. The wounds of his cut arms and back still ooze wine, telling the tale of a tragedy without words but in colours.

 “I knew you would come,” Markus finally whispers when Simon’s in proximity. The blond man’s fingers touch the dark skin. It feels comforting, _warm_ when everything around them isn’t.

 “Of course. That was my final wish. Because I knew you’d be waiting for me,” Simon softly smiles.

And then the two of them sink deeper and deeper. The light of the human world gets dimmed. Light blue gets exchanged for unfathomable darkness but it’s alright because they have each other. It’s okay.  

 It’s alright.

 

_I think I understand._

_That night, our boat rested between the boundary of ocean and sky._

_The soft breeze from the land bellowed softly._

_His story tangled in with the flock of birds, slowly heading for the distant sky._

_Everything is silent, and just as well._

_But also a little sad._


End file.
